The CheckerBoard

I know that was one of the days of my life where I can see it all with a really clear memory. Spent the whole day with a lump in my throat. I love this country.

Spent some time in the Middle East back in the 70's and I can tell you nothing has changed in the attitude toward the U.S.. There is a vengeful nature to much of the culture there and they think long term when it comes to revenge and their goals. It is not over for them and that is why it is important to remember. We have a tendency to forget these types of things and it comes back to bite us. Glad to hear you do not fall in that category.

The next day i walked out of college and signed up for the Marines. I left for boot camp that week. In the words of Wes, Go America!!

Another

Good luck, Beazy! You got this.

I was in college and strangely enough Professor Muhammad didn't show up for the 10 o'clock class.

Nice post Watauga.

Off we go, into the wild sky yonder, Keep the wings level and true;
If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder, Keep the nose out of the blue!
Flying men, guarding the nation's border, we'll be there followed by more
In echelon we carry on. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Coincidently, I made it into a country that starts with and "A" and ends with a "stan" today. I just paid for some internetz time, and came here first to catch up on the last few days. It may be tough to find a place to watch the game this weekend, so I'm dependin' on some good play-by-play in the game thread. +1 to all in the thread.

One of the saddest moments in my life time. Thanks for keeping this moment in our hearts. +1 for all in this thread.

I was short on time earlier.

I got to the Nimitz that day thinking it would be a short day. I had a shipmate transferring off the ship the next day. His farewell lunch was that afternoon. I got tasked to walk around with a contractor (who dealt with switchboards) until lunch. I wasn't expected to return. The ship was scheduled to depart for a trip around South America in 11 days...we were on short days for the most part already.

An hour or so into the day, the contractor and I went down to my main shop where the watertight door bumped into my boss who was standing there watching TV. I cracked a joke about TV during working hours and I noticed the tower burning. I thought it was a TV show until I saw the station icon in the bottom right of the screen. My job on the Nimitz was to repair and maintain identification radar (IFF specifically). When I realized what had happened I thought maybe the radar had malfunctioned...maybe there was bad weather that I didn't see that could explain it.

Then I saw the second tower hit. My heart sank. I told the contractor we needed to get him off the ship now. I was told by another supervisor to call my wife and tell her I was okay but that I may not be in contact for a while. I did and I wasn't in touch with her until 2 days later.

During that time I wasn't sure if we were coming or going. We were on full alert and basically operated as if we were at sea while moored in Norfolk.

I thought the USS Cole would change the way the Navy operated when that attack happened. September 11 likely changed the way all the military operated, not just the Navy. I know my life and career dramatically changed as a result of that day.